selecting the right contractor - 2e architects

Contractor

Selecting the Right

Designing Innovative Spaces to Suit Your Vision and Lifestyle

Resulting in the Home of Your Dreams.

2e Architects PETER R. TWOHY

For Your Luxury Home

Selecting the Right Architect for Your Luxury Home

Selection of the best general contractor for your residential project is an

extremely important decision. That choice will determine the quality of

craftsmanship and the timely completion, within budget, of the project. It will

also minimize emotional stress and surprise extra costs.

The following are considerations and questions for interviewing and ultimately

hiring a reputable contractor in your area. You should also rely on your

architect to help you with this process.

Peter R. Twohy AIA


Find A Contractor

Ask for referrals from people you know and trust.

Your architect is an obvious source, but so are

family, friends, neighbors, lawyers, real estate

agents, and others who have built projects similar

to yours. Local building suppliers, design firms,

and other trade-related businesses can offer

referrals too. Are there recently completed or

projects similar to what you have in mind for your

home under construction in your area? If so, ask the owner about their

contractor and their working relationship.

When you have a good number of referrals, begin your research. Start with

a company’s website. Review their portfolio. (The lack of an online

presence says a lot about the contractor too). Consider the following:

How long have they been in business?

How big is the company?

Where are they located in relation to your project?

What does the local business bureau have to say about the

contractor?

Do they have good reviews on Houzz?

1 . one


License and Registration, Please

Verify that your contractor candidates are

licensed and in good standing with your city or

state’s respective license board. Ask to see the

contractor’s pocket license, a picture I.D. , and

certificate of insurance.

Not only does proper licensing demonstrate a

company’s best practices management, but

hiring a licensed contractor protects you.

For example, Workers Compensation insurance

is generally a contractor’s responsibility. If a

contractor is not licensed or does not carry

proper insurance the liability may fall on you

should anything happen with a worker on site.

Check with local authorities in your city or state

if you have questions about who’s responsibility

this is.

2 . two

Architecture is a Team Sport At 2e Architects, we work hard to build lasting

relationships with contractors and sub-contractors.

Every person on the team is vital to the success of

the building project. Working together we are able

to create realistic building plans, a construction

budget you can have confidence in, and build the

home of your dreams.

We work with high-caliber contractors who are true

experts at building. These trusted craftsmen have a

keen eye for detail and truly care about every

aspect of your home—the beautiful, visible details

and equally as importantly, the "invisible" materials

inside the walls.

3D Drawings Make the Difference If the contractor or sub-contractors have any, even

small, questions about the design, the tendency

can be to raise the bid. 2e Architects provides

unlimited 3D drawings for all our projects because

they not only help our clients better visual the end

product, but they also help the contractors and

sub-contractors more accurately bid your home.

Building A Partnership


Interview Candidates

After the preliminary online and license check,

narrow your candidate pool to three to five

contractors. Set up an interview at their office,

which will verify their business location. Consider

the following questions:

What does their place of business tell

you about their organization and the

quality of their product and service?

Is it a small, one-person company working from home

or a larger firm with a business location and/or a

showroom?

What is their pipeline of jobs? Will they be able to start

work on your project in a timely manner?

Ask what plans do they have in place to complete

3 . three


Review Recent Work

Request to visit three projects that are similar in

size and style to yours. Check out one that was

recently completed, one under construction,

and a third project completed five to 10 years

earlier. If at all possible, speak with the

homeowners and consider the following

during your evaluation:

How does the construction site look? Is debris cleaned

up promptly, and appropriate measures taken to

control dust?

Does a finished project stand the test of time?

Does the work carry a warranty, and have any prob-

lems been corrected?

2e Architects Client Floorplan

4 . four


Check References

Ask for a referral list. In private, discuss with

previous clients their experiences working with

the contractor. Consider asking the following:

Was it a pleasant working relationship?

Was it easy to communicate with the

contractor?

Was the project completed on schedule and

within budget?

Were there extra costs or surprises?

As there will almost always be unexpected developments in a

construction or remodeling project, how were problems

handled?

How was the quality of craftsmanship and follow-up?

What advice would you give for working with this contractor?

5 . five

The Role of

Subcontractors

“Do you use subcontractors?”

For many years, standard consumer

advice has been against hiring a

company that uses subcontractors.

The truth is that now nearly every firm

uses subcontractors for specialty

trades like concrete or foundation

work, electrical, and plumbing. Even

the very busiest general contractor

will not have enough concrete work

(for example) to be done every day

so they turn to a qualified sub-

contractor who works for other

companies as well. This is not a bad

thing. It means that people who

specialize in that particular discipline

do your work.

You may want to avoid a firm that

uses only subcontractors and has no

full time construction employees.

Instead of or in addition to asking,

“Do you use subcontractors?” you

should ask, “What processes do you

have in place to make sure your sub-

contractors keep their licensing and

insurance up to date?” Just as the

absence of workers compensation

insurance on the part of your

contractor may make you liable for

jobsite accidents, so too will the lack

of proper insurance for any sub-

contracted firms. A reputable

general contractor will maintain files

showing current licensing and

insurance for all active sub-

contractors.


“Cement” A Relationship

Narrow your list of contractors to two or three. Invite

them to your project site to meet with your architect

and review your site and preliminary architectural

plans. Consider the following when you

meet with them:

Can you trust and communicate with this

person easily?

Are your questions answered clearly and satisfactorily?

How often will the principal contractor be at the job site?

Who will be the day-to-day job foreman?

How long has that person been with the company?

Ask to meet the foreman to determine your compatibility.

Does their schedule suit your time frame?

Ask about a range of general construction costs. Are they

within your budget and quality expectations?

Where can you save money?

As a takeaway from the meetings, ask for a preliminary, itemized

written estimate based on their understanding of the scope

of work.

6 . six

Preliminary Estimates

When to Get Them

Remember it is important to bring in

a contractor early in the design

process to ensure that you are

designing a project that you can

afford.

At 2e Architects, we follow a three

phase approach to architectural

design: 1) Concept Design 2) Design

Development, and 3) Permit &

Construction. You want to have a

contractor providing estimates at

the end of Concept Design before

the design is totally refined and

floorplans and dimensions are set.

Estimates performed by architects,

mine included, are almost always

too rosy.

Contractors are the experts in cost

estimate arena. Most times the

estimates they provide are right near

where we thought they would be. In

the cases where they are not, we still

have 2/3 of the design process to

reign the project back to align with

the budget.

Getting the first round of estimates

after this point, say at the end of

Design Development, would be fine

as long as the estimate is in line with

the budget. If not the required rework

to the plan would be classified as an

extra service, costing you more

money.

The worst time to ask for the first

estimate from a contractor is after the

Permit Drawings are complete in the

middle of the Permit & Construction

phase when the plans have already

gone through a structural review and

are ready for submission to the

building authority. This would certainly

mean that any changes to the design

would be classified as an extra service

for both the architect and the

structural engineer, costing you more

money and inevitably changing the

project timeline. Avoiding any extra

service surcharge is always a good

idea.


Review Detailed Bids

When your plans have final design approval and

the construction documents are ready to be

submitted for local government permits, let the

shortlisted contractors know that you will be

considering detailed bids. Give them a deadline

by which they can submit their bids for your

consideration. Ask your architect to help you

review and compare the bids. Look for the

following when you receive the detailed bids:

Ask for line item bids for various categories of work for

comparison and to avoid possible mistakes. The line items are

to be sure that all of the contractors understand the project

in the same way. For example, if one contractor’s painting

number is more than twice that of everyone else, there are

only two possible reasons. The first is that the painter is very

expensive. The second is that there is an error in either math

or the perceived scope (usually the latter).

Ask for and set consistent “allowances” for unknown costs such

as fixtures and finishes to be chosen later. This allows you to

proceed with the project planning even if you haven’t yet

chosen every last faucet or door handle.

7 . seven


For remodel projects where structural conditions are unknown,

have the contractor open up a partial section of a wall or

other area to help partly determine beforehand the extent of

repair work that will need to be done.

Ask about the payment schedule. Generally speaking, larger

projects will be divided into greater number of payments.

The schedule should be broken down into easily identifiable

milestones like, “permits obtained” or “drywall complete and

finished,” and not vague benchmarks like “50% complete.”

Consider your “gut feel” in addition to the bid prices.

Remember especially in a renovation project your contractor

will be in your home for several months. Your gut will tell you

which contractor communicates best with you. Assume that

the communication level will not improve as the project

progresses, or if it does, that it will improve equally with each

contractor. Certain people you simply “click” with, my

advice is to work with them.


Sign A Contract

There are far more reputable, honest and

hard-working contractors than there are the

slapdash, fly-by-night operations we read about

in the news. With proper planning and prior

research, you will find the perfect contractor

for your project. Invest the time in the beginning

of the process and remember that spending this time could save you

thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars in the end. Creating a new home,

or turning your existing home into the space you’ve always wanted is an

exciting project. Make it an enjoyable one, too, by hiring the right

contractor and considering the following points during the contract phase:

Discuss the different kinds of contracts available and ask for one to

review.

Include a contingency clause that voids the contract if permits

cannot be obtained.

Include the ability to get updated construction bids if plans change

for any reason at any time during the construction.

8 . eight


Be prepared to pay a deposit at contract signing.

Depending on the scope of work and the payment schedule

outlined in the contract, this may be anywhere from 10% (large

projects) to 33% (small projects) of the total contract price.

Many states limit the deposit to a maximum of 33%; our advice is

never pay more than that initially. It may seem counterintuitive

to pay a substantial deposit before any work is done, but

remember that a large portion of the contractor’s costs are

material that are incurred upfront before work can even start.

Plan 5% to a maximum 10% contingency budget.

Be aware that there are always unknowns in the construction

process that will require changes to the original plan, usually, at

additional costs. Examples include design changes made at

your request, building department requirements, or unknown site

or other existing conditions. This is normal. Expect it.

I have heard some say that clients building a custom home

should set aside 10,15, even 20 percent of construction cost for

cost over-runs. At 2e Architects we recommend setting aside

5-10%. The reason is our standard of making available unlimited

3D drawings to our clients.

Use 3D drawings to minimize changes orders.

This type of visualization greatly reduces change orders and

often completely eliminates them because any questions or

uncertainties are clarified upfront during the design phase. 3D

drawings allow clients and contractors to truly “see” the space

as it will be once it is built. Contractors fully understand the

design and therefore your expectations netting you better

upfront cost estimates. You need unlimited drawings to get to

this level of clarity. 3D shows details normally lost in traditional,

flat 2D floorplans used by other architects. 3D drawings simply

make the path to building your dream home run more smoothly

and minimize the unexpected. Contractors LOVE this.

2e Architects

7604 York Road Suite B

Towson, MD 21204

410.583.2112

2e-architects.com

CUSTOM RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE

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